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CCC Cabin Fever LbNA #60081

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Oct 26, 2011
Location: Douthat
City:Millboro
County:Bath
State:Virginia
Boxes:1
Planted by:Java Jane
Found by: Sherry Tolley
Last found:Jun 4, 2022
Status:F
Last edited:Oct 26, 2011
CCC Cabin Fever

Note 1: If you do not have a trail map, pick one up from the nice folks in the park office.

Okay, your clue:
It was early September 1935. Ross Jones, 19, had been hewing timbers for cabins all morning. He had gotten his job with the Civilian Conservation Corps in April, and he enjoyed the honest physical labor, the camaraderie with the other young men, and the puzzle of figuring out with the other fellas of Camp Douthat which cabin design was best (timbers straight up or sideways, for example). The camp buzzed with a sense of pride and teamwork and renewed hope—all that hard work meant that money was flowing again, and wages could be sent home to the family.

The scorchingly hot and muggy days of August had dragged right into September. What little rain they had just seemed to steam things up even worse, and the gnats and mosquitoes were fierce. But today, finally, strong storms had rumbled through all afternoon. Some trees were down, one of them damaging a cabin that was nearly complete. That was enough—the foreman blew the whistle and told the boys to take the rest of the day off—no more work would get done today. So after Ross cleaned up his tools, relaxed, and wrote a letter home, he noticed that the air finally felt fresh and clean, and the sky was a brilliant September blue.

Ross wandered over to the first cabin loop he and the Camp Douthat boys had built. Up around the sixth one, he picked up the trail along Wilson Creek, glad he had his boots on to avoid the mud. Maybe Ross should have used his head and started on the trail between cabins 10, 11, or 12+. No matter; all the work they’d done on the cabins in the past few months, they had a pretty good trail going behind the cabins and along that creek. But soon enough Ross blazed a new trail up the hollow: the rain-fresh air felt so great that Ross just kept going, up, up, up. Soon he hit a fork in the trail, which turned toward the Lodge that some of his pals had been working on for honored guests of the park that would open next year; this lodge was high on a hill, its stonework massive and grand. He waited a bit, in case one of his buddies came by to stretch his legs too. But then Ross continued on up, solo—the day was perfect, and Ross felt like the trail was all his! After a while he reached another fork, up near the mountaintop. The skies were completely clear now, and he knew he’d have a great view no matter which way he went—either the mountain side or the mountain top. Which way should he go? He couldn’t decide! So Ross Jones looked for a sign, and when Ross lined himself up just right (for he really was a straight arrow), he saw a sign pointing him right where he needed to be. He grinned—with all that climbing and fresh air and sunshine, he suddenly felt like he could sleep like a log—heck, let’s make that 2 logs—and what made him smile was he actually saw 2 logs—the sign had pointed him right there after all—and now he was ready to get all the way to the roots of the matter. If you go to your roots, you usually find what you’re looking for, even if you think you live life hidden under a rock, so relax, look around, and then you decide: Mountain Top or Mountain Side? Happy Trails!!

Note 2: In 1936, Douthat opened along with 5 other parks in Virginia, thanks to the work of the CCC. Construction of Douthat, including its log cabins, lake, and spillway, took place between 1934 and 1936. Each picnic area is named after a CCC team of approximately 200 men each. The young men of Camp Douthat built the cabins. If you’re lucky enough to be staying in one, take a look at the architectural details, and think of the young men who built them and the beautiful park that surrounds you.